Stereo-video image processing is of ever more meaningful significance for recording the surroundings in driver assistance systems, for robotics and for additional applications of automation technology. Using a stereo-video system, the spatial position of objects within the recording range of a stereo-video system is able to be determined, so as to be able to detect pedestrians in a driver assistance systems, for example.
The stereo measurement from digital images is discussed in textbooks of image preparation (e.g. Trucco and Verri, Introductory Techniques for 3D Computer Vision, Springer Verlag, 1998). The basis for the stereo measurement is formed by the search for corresponding image sections between the left and the right sensor. By taking into account the optical imaging and the geometrical arrangement of the sensors, a 3D reconstruction may be made of the image sections.
In order to facilitate the search for corresponding image sections, there frequently follows an image rectification. It permits a search for corresponding image sections along the scanning lines.
Patent document WO 02/095681 A1 discusses a method in which a source image, that is distorted by a camera optical system, is converted to a rectified target image with the aid of a tabular mapping rule. In this context, to each source pixel in the source image, zero, one or a plurality of target pixels are assigned.